Shop and Café of Wishes
by explodreamer
Summary: Takes place after the end of xxxHolic manga. A young woman appears suddenly and decides to build a Café on the piece of land where the shop is! Only people who needs the shop will see it. So what kind of wish does she wishes to fulfil? OC.
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

* * *

A black limousine stopped in front of the shop, in the mid morning. The shop's owner was still sleeping in his bedroom, and dreaming of what was happening outside of the shop at the moment. He dreamt that he was at the garden, watching a young woman alight the vehicle and walked through the gate of the shop. The engine cut off and an elder man walked briskly around the limousine to the young woman.

"Is this where you wish to build the shop, Mistress?" he asked.

The young woman walked further into the lawn and stopped in front Watanuki Kimihiro. She surveyed the area and nodded with satisfied look.

"This is a good place, Sebastian," she addressed her Butler.

What a stereotypical name for a Butler, thought Watanuki.

"I've checked the official records. The land is currently not occupied," the Butler said.

"Good. Make the arrangements. I want work to start at the end of the week. And remember, use the funds that I have in the other bank. No one should know about this. Especially Father."

Sebastian acknowledged her and bowed, before heading back to the limousine. The mistress looked around while she waited for the limousine to start.

Then they made eye contact.

Watanuki's heart jumped. He should have gotten used to this but its so rare for anyone to see him in a dream.

"Mistress, we're ready to leave for the university," Sebastian informed.

"Also, make arrangements to tear down that ugly building. It goes against the contemporary concept of my shop."

The butler looked at the general direction his mistress was pointing, unaware of Watanuki' s existence.

"Pardon me, but which building are you talking about?"

"... What do you see here?"

"Just a empty piece of land."  
The young woman surveyed the area again. The Japanese styled building was still there but the teenager with spectacles was gone already.

* * *

Watanuki hastily greeted Moro and Maru, who was waiting for him to wake up. He walked quickly to the entrance.

"What's wrong, Watanuki?"

"What' s wrong, Watanuki?" Moro and Maru chirped curiously.

When he reached the lawn, he saw the limousine start up and drove away.

"What was that about?"

* * *

A/N: Good day! I've just finished reading xxxHolic and Tsubasa Chronicle, and wrote this with the intention of wishing that Watanuki had a happily ever after ending! (also, with the intention of practising for NaNoWriMo!) I'm generally not a big fan of Original Characters, but I just couldn't resist writing a fanfic with OC in it! Will be updating with Chapter 1 soon!


	2. Chapter 2

I decided to keep some terms in Japanese to keep the series's original feel. You can refer to the terms here:

_Genkan_: traditional Japanese entryway areas for a house, apartment, or building

_Kiseru_: the pipe that Yuuko used for smoking.

* * *

Watanuki Kimihiro glared at the scaffolding in his garden. _His_ shop's garden. He puffed out smoke from his mouth unhappily as Maru and Moro looked at the skeleton of a new building curiously.

The next morning after the woman had left, a truck appeared and bulky men alighted with construction tools and materials. They worked so quickly that by the time Watanuki had woke up and strolled sleepily to the lawn, there was already a decent scaffolding up at the entrance. The men continued to work after lunch, unaware that two children were playing around the site noisily. There was a small accident where a piece of metal plank nearly fell onto Maru, but one of the burly men intercepted and grabbed it, unaware that he had helped a child. The men worked until evening, packed up and left.

Coincidentally - or if you looked at it in another way, on cue - Doumeki appeared at the entrance a few seconds after the truck drove away. He watched as the truck drove away before he walked into the shop through the garden .

"How many times do I have to remind you to come in from the _genkan_?" Watanuki nagged, waving his _kiseru _at the visitor.

"I brought the wine you were asking for," Doumeki simply said and settled down next to Watanuki in a habitual flow.

Mokona dropped down from the ceiling onto Doumeki's lap with a pop and shouted excitedly, "Yes! It's Kohane chan's specialty wine!"

"Are you building something?" Doumeki asked.

"How's that possible? Yesterday, a woman came over and just decided to buy over the land legally and build something," Watanuki explained with a sigh.

"You didn't stop her?"

"I watched her in a dream. She saw me, and this house. Calls it ugly."

"That's a very rude woman!" the bottle of wine shook violently as Mokona shouted indignantly.

"Very rude!"  
"Very rude!" Maru and Moro chirped along.

"By the time I woke up and rushed out, she was already gone," Watanuki continued. "I didn't know what was going on and decided to wait and see. Men came in early this morning and started building that thing."

Watanuki stood up slowly and Mokona jumped onto his shoulder excitedly.

"What's for dinner? More importantly, what's for after dinner? When can we start drinking Kohane chan's specialty wine? Can we start now before dinner?"

"No wine until dinner. I have small portions of ingredients left over from last night. Doumeki bought too much of it," Watanuki thought out loud.

"It was on discount and they sold it in big value packs," Doumeki said.

"Yeah Yeah, I understand. We'll probably have nabe tonight."

"Yes! It'll go well with the wine!" Mokona cheered.

"Moro, Maru, help me with dinner!"

Watanuki and the twins went into the shop, the sing-song voices of 'help' and 'dinner' faded as they entered the kitchen.

Doumeki walked into the garden towards he scaffolding and checked it. It looked strong and it seemed that work had already started to build walls from the inside. The building wasn't very large; it looked like about the size of the dining room in the shop.

"Have you seen this woman before?" Doumeki asked as he settled down in the corridor again.

"Nope, I only heard it from Watanuki after I woke up in the afternoon," Mokona fiddled with the cloth wrapped around the wine.

"He doesn't seem very worried about it."

"Nope, he isn't."

"Do you think that's a good thing?"

"It's been a long time since Watanuki took over the shop. I'm sure he knows what he's doing," Mokona hopped onto the top of the wine bottle. "He'll be alright."

Two sets of excited footsteps rang through the shop and Moro and Maru announced importantly, "Mokona, help bring out the sake set!"

"Whaaaaat? Why? I helped last night!"

"No wine for you if you don't help!"

"No snacks for you if you don't help!"

"Mokona," Watanuki said as he brought out cutlery. "Help me with the sake set. Our hands are full with the Nabe and the snacks."

"Doumeki can help!" Mokona protested.

Watanuki simply walked back in the direction of the kitchen. "No wine and snacks for you if you don't help."

"Ehhhhhhhhh," Mokona whined and hopped into the shop, leaving the wine and Doumeki alone in the corridor.

Doumeki had the urge to check his pocket when the voices faded, and brought out an egg in his hand. He pondered over it quietly then quickly tucked it back into his pocket smoothly when the footsteps returned.

"Are you staying tonight, Doumeki?" Watanuki asked as he put down the Nabe onto the dining table.

"Yeah."

"Then take a bathe after dinner."

Doumeki merely grunted a reply as Mokona poured him sake.

"Do you have a guest tonight?"

Watanuki took a sip of sake that cleared his throat, "A client might be coming."

"Should I be here?"

"Yeah. Just in case."

"Just in case of what?"

Watanuki didn't reply.

* * *

A/N: I'm on a roll and is constantly writing this story on a tablet! The story may seem slow at the beginning but I hope it picks up pace soon! Do R&R and let me know, especially, if any of the characters are beginning to seem OOC. Thanks!


	3. Chapter 3

Chuuni: AKA 8th grade syndrome. A young teen who pretends to be far superior or special compared to others. Refer to Chuunibyou demo koi ga shitai for reference.

Hitsuzen: Inevitable.

* * *

The young woman jogged down from her villa at the top of the hill, across two streets before reaching into the back lane that led to the land that she had bought the day before. It was close to midnight but she wasn't worried for her safety at all. The backpack that she carried bumped against her behind lightly as she jogged slowly along the road. She stopped outside the wooden fence and placed her palm on it, feeling the comforting sense of relief emitting from the wood.

Sure, this piece of land was weird, but it didn't feel bad to her at all.

Just weird.

She pulled out a pair of roller skates from the backpack and changed into them.

Just in case.

* * *

She stomped awkwardly into the garden. Maybe the roller skates isn't a good idea here. But once she got on the road, it could go really fast. She walked cautiously towards the corridor of the old building behind the scaffolding of her soon-to-be built building, then stopped about ten feet away from the figure sitting on the corridor.

"Good evening," the young teenager that she had seen the day before greeted. "Welcome to my shop."

The most distinctive feature on the teenager was his odd pair of old spectacles. It didn't seem that he needed it. He wore an extravagant black kimono, patterned with what seemed to be little white birds painted in a water painting style art. He held a smoking _kiseru_ absent-mindedly in one hand. To put it crudely, he looks like a teen with the _chuuni_ syndrome.  
But on a closer look, he looks intimidating. This feeling is extremely strong when you're standing in the middle of a garden, dressed in old tracksuit, carrying an old backpack and wearing a pair of childish looking roller skates. The young woman began to regret wearing the skates for other reasons. Three sake cups and a sake bottle sat next to the teenager.

"Is there anyone else here?" she asked.

"... Yes. But they are not in this room right now."

"Where are they?"

"He went to the washroom, and it is sleeping in the dining room."

"Oh... Anyone else? "

"Two of them are sleeping in the bedroom."

"Oh."

Silence set in.

The young woman didn't want to do the explaining. She did nothing bad. She shouldn't have to explain for this situation. After all, in the eyes of normal beings, this is just a barren land.

"What are you building?" the teenager asked.

"... A cafe."

"Contemporary style, am I right?"

"How do you make a living here when no one can see your shop?" she asked, diverting attention away from her opinion of how the shop looks like.

"I sell people wishes," the teenager said slowly.

"Well, I'm not a customer obviously. I just happened to buy this piece of land because it's near my home and the university."

"Only people who needs this shop can see it. Only people who have a wish to fulfil," the teenager continued. "It's _hitsuzen _that you'll buy this piece of land."

"... Are you telling me that you won't stop me?" the young woman asked cautiously. "Aren't you afraid that I might get a professional to get rid of you?"

"You cannot chase me away from here," the young teenager took a smoke from his _kiseru_. "This is where I should be. I have things that I need to do. And I am waiting for someone."

"Who are you waiting for?"

"... The previous owner of this shop."

The young woman jumped when her smartphone rang with a notification. It was a reminder for herself to not stay at the land for too long.

Just in case.

"I've got to be going. If I got you right, you don't mind me building a cafe right in front of your shop," the young woman repeated.

"It'll be great if you left an entrance for the shop. My friend is a little clumsy sometimes so it's a problem when he visits."

* * *

The shouji door slid open and Doumeki walked out.  
"You took a rather long time," Watanuki said as the shouji door opened.

Doumeki sat down and Watanuki poured some sake into his sake cup. "I was in the living room all the while," he said after drinking it in one gulp.

Watanuki poured again.

"Who is she?"

"As you've heard, she's the woman who bought the land."

"Is it alright for her to do that?"

"As long as she leaves an entrance for the shop. It will be a problem if clients can't walk into the shop."

"If I remember correctly, this week is the university's examination period. Shouldn't you be at home preparing for it?" Watanuki asked suddenly, out of topic.

"There's nothing much to study about. Most of it were taught to me when I was young. I could easily ace it."

"Hmph! Cocky, like your grandfather. But it does sound like something he would have done to you."

Watanuki poured himself sake and drank it in a gulp. He watched the dark amber clouds glide through the starless night quietly. "Stop coming from tomorrow onwards. Come back only when your examinations is over. I'll cook something special for you."

Doumeki merely grunted an acknowledgement.

"The cafe should be ready by then as well..."

* * *

A/N: Thank you for reviewing and reading till this chapter! I'm aware that the pace is not fast... But hopefully, I get to where the action starts soon!


	4. Chapter 4

Kanzashi: Hair sticks, or some people refer it to hair chopsticks

Shouji: traditional door held by thin wooden frame, covered with translucent paper

* * *

Doumeki came to the shop in the mid afternoon of the Saturday of the same week. The cafe was completed. It had an old Japanese feel with a pagoda-like roof, and wooden walls. There was a well suited glass door with wooden borders with an automatic door button where the handle should be. There were two large windows at each side of the front wall, both bordered with wood as well. Doumeki looked into the shop and saw neatly arranged tables and chairs with a bar counter at the end of the cafe. Bottles of shouchu and spirits lined up on the shelves behind the bar counter.

The cafe did not take up the full width of the entrance of the shop. In fact it seemed that the cafe appeared behind the shop's fence deliberately. The right side of the cafe was built tightly next to the shop's wall while there was a large gap on the left side of the cafe. Doumeki walked to the left and found a lane comfortably large that leads into the shop's garden. At the end of the cafe's perimeter, a woman in bright pink tracksuit squatted near a small cottage-like gate built between the shop's wall and the cafe wall. Her black hair was bundled in a large chinese bun, secured with a _kanzashi_ decorated with a golden plate carved with floral and a bird soaring. She had a nail sticking out between her lips and held a wooden board and a hammer in each of her hands. She seems to be having trouble with fixing the wooden board onto the gate.

"Do you need help?" Doumeki asked.

The woman fell back onto her behind in surprise and raised her hammer, as if ready for assault. She relaxed after all then tried to put down her arm as naturally as she could.

"Apologies for my rude behaviour. The cafe will be opening tomorrow. We still have some preparations to do. Please come back tomorrow," she bowed lightly and said.

"... I'm not a customer," Doumeki said. "I'm going to the shop."

"... The shop that sell wishes?"

"I'm visiting the owner of the shop."

The woman measured him visually from head to toe. "Ah, so you're his... friend."

Doumeki simply nodded. The woman raised the wooden board in her hand.

"I built a gate to guard the entrance of the shop from the cafe. It won't be good if people walked into the garden unknowingly," she said, mostly talking to herself. "Could you please help me nail this onto the fence?"

Doumeki held his hand out for the hammer quietly. The work was done quickly and the wooden board sat nicely in the middle of the fence.

"Can you tell what it says on the board?" the woman asked as she took back the hammer from Doumeki.

"It looks blank to me."

"It does? But you can see the shop right?"

Doumeki nodded.

"I got a... professional to help me write down a message onto the board. So that those who needs the shop will open the gate."

"You can see what the board says?"

"Yes."

"And the shop?"

"...Yes."

"Have you spoken to him?"

"...Yes. But not about the shop," the woman walked backwards away from the gate. "Thanks for helping me out with the board. Tomorrow's the opening and I've got preparations not yet done."

Doumeki pushed the gate and it opened.

"... See you tomorrow," the woman said hurriedly then turned around the corner to the shop.

Doumeki went through the shop and closed the gate. He tried to look for a visible lock on the gate, but found nothing - no hinges, catches or magnets - needed to lock the door. It just looked like a gate with no lock.

"It's Doumeki!"

"Doumeki's here!"

Moro and Maru cheered, running through the corridor and jumped into the garden. Mokona's small black body jumped across the garden like a stray fur ball.  
"Did you bring any snacks? Did you?"

Watanuki leaned against the pillar as he watched Doumeki walk over.

"The _genkan_, please."

Doumeki turned rigidly towards the actual entrance of the shop. Maru and Moro slid the door open for him, and Watanuki was already at the door waiting.

"Your exams is over already?"

"I took only three modules this semester so it ended quickly," Doumeki said and held up a plastic bag. "I brought some snacks and ice cream."

"WOOO! SNACKS!" Mokona cheered and grabbed the bag from Doumeki.

They walked towards the living room together as Mokona whined about Watanuki punishing him for not helping out with the housework. Maru and Moro jumped onto Mokona and snatched the bag, repeating after Watanuki 'No snacks and no wine for a week!'

"I saw the woman," Doumeki said as they walked pass the old-school telephone in the shop.

"Oh?"

"She built a gate for the shop."

"Yes, she did. I wonder how she had gotten it. That gate has a strong magical nature in it."

"There wasn't a lock," Doumeki described as Maru and Moro slipped through and rushed to open the _shouji_ door for the living room.

"There's no need for a lock. Only people who can see the shop can come in, after all."

"It seems that the cafe opens tomorrow."

"So it seems. I'm thinking of sending her some cake as a house warming gift."

"Cake?!" Mokona exclaimed. "Are you making some for us too? What kind are you making? Does it have rum?"

"There's a bar counter in the cafe with many bottles of alcohol," Doumeki added on.

"Then I shouldn't add alcohol into the cake. Maybe something sweet to go with aperitifs," Watanuki wondered. He brought out a slip of paper from his sleeve and gave it to Doumeki. "Go to the store before sun set. These are the ingredients for the cake. Dinner will be ready once you're back."

Doumeki quietly took over the note and read through it. Watanuki yawned loudly and went further into the shop.

"Are you going to sleep?" Doumeki looked up and asked.

"Yeah. A client came over close to dawn. It's quite a simple matter so it should be over in a couple of hours," Watanuki waved lazily. "Maru, Moro, keep the snacks in the cabinet."

"Yes~" the twins answered and Watanuki closed the _shouji_ door behind him.

Mokona jumped onto Doumeki's shoulder and read the note that was still in his hand.

"Hmmm... I still think the cake will taste better with some rum," he hinted obviously to Doumeki.

Doumeki walked towards the _genkan_ and put on his shoes. "I could get some for the cake."

"There's my culprit in crime. He he he..." Mokona said greedily.

Maru and Moro jumped in the corridor excitedly as Doumeki walked across the garden to the gate. "Itterashai!" they shouted loudly to him and waved.

Doumeki stepped out of the shop's entrance and saw the woman holding a baseball bat, looking away into the distance. He followed her gaze and saw a black limousine turned into the corner of the street. The woman turned around and their eyes met.

"Hello," she said. " Are you going back already?"

"No. I'm going to the store."

"Oh... Well, see y-"

"Do you prefer cake with rum? "

"Hmmm," the woman considered, seemingly not taken off guard by the man's question. "I wouldn't mind if there's a good balance in the sweetness and the rum in the cake."

"Okay," Doumeki said and walked off.

* * *

The woman returned into her cafe after Doumeki left. She placed the baseball bat onto a dining table casually and headed to the bar counter. She glanced through the shelves thoughtfully before grabbing her purse off the counter. As she locked the electronic door of the cafe, she noticed a tall man wearing a black business suit and a white shirt standing outside the entrance of the shop. He wore a bowler hat a little too large for his head, and concealed half of his face.

The woman walked over and asked, "May I help you?"

The man did not reply.

"The cafe is not ready for business yet. Please come back tomorrow."

Again, the man did not reply.

"Are you here for... other business?" the woman asked, thinking if he was a potential customer for the shop.

The man was still silent.

"Well then, I'll be going off," the woman ended the one sided conversation awkwardly.

She bowed casually as a form of polite gesture and walked briskly into the street. As she turned the corner, she took a peek corner back into the street. The tall man was no longer there.

* * *

A/N: Thank you for your kind reviews and I hope you've enjoyed reading this as much as I've enjoyed writing this!


	5. Chapter 5

Reminder: Soel is the name of the white Mokona that travels with Syaoran and co in Tsubasa Chronicle.

* * *

Watanuki came out of the store room where the previous shop owner had kept various items she had received in exchange for fulfilled wishes. It was still as packed as ever, but things that Watanuki earned were replacing Yuuko's items gradually. He closed the door with a sigh and looked up to see Doumeki waiting for him.

"Didn't I tell you to wait for me at the living room?" Watanuki said.

"Did you find what you were looking for? Is it something to do with last night's dream?" Doumeki asked.

Watanuki had dozed off unknowingly after eating the cake with rum together with Doumeki and Mokona. He dreamt a genuine dream of the woman. The kind of dream where he couldn't do anything but watch in horror as the events unfold. It was a series of short visions where all he could see is the woman running away from something. What was unnerving was that she was running frantically in the shop.

His shop which should have been safe behind the strong barrier.

Doumeki had woken him up when Watanuki accidentally pushed the dessert plate in his sleep, as he jerked involuntarily in his sleep, and it smashed onto the ground. It was a long time since he had such dreams and he wished hard that it was simply just a nightmare. But his dreams are always premonitions. He was unable to take this lightly. So once he woke up, he walked to all perimeters of the shop, checked the barriers quickly then checked the store room for things that he could use.

Mokona hoped over from Doumeki's shoulder as they walked back to the living room and said nonchalantly, "We'll handle it as it comes."

"That doesn't mean I shouldn't take precautions, " Watanuki said, waving a stack of origami paper that he had found in the store room.

They settled down at the table in the living room and Watanuki laid out the paper onto the table. Maru and Moro walked into the living room sleepily. "Morning," they greeted quietly. They sat down next to Watanuki; Maru on the left and Moro on the right.

"Are you okay, Watanuki?"  
"Is everything alright, Watanuki" the twins asked.

Watanuki patted their heads and said warmly, "I'm fine, thank you for asking. We're going to make origami cranes. Will you please help me?"

"Origami cranes? But I don't know how to," Maru said.  
"I want to help but I don't know how to, " Moro said.

" I'll teach you."

"I don't know how to make it too," Doumeki's husky voice joined in, grabbed a piece of origami paper and looked at Watanuki expectantly.

Watanuki saying eyes narrowed. "For some reason, I simply dislike how you said that."

"Said what?"

"I don't know how to make it too," Watanuki tried to imitate Doumeki's voice, but a strangled voice came out instead. "Somehow it feels condescending."

"I didn't mean it that way. "

"Yeah, I know. But I dislike it."

Mokona hopped onto the table, messing up the neatly laid out origami paper. "Mokona wants to make a reaaaaally big origami! Watanuki, don't you have anything bigger?"

"This is all I found in the store room... And stop messing up the papers! Settle down, choose a color and I'll teach you how to make it," Watanuki said, beginning to feel annoyed.

"Mokona needs no teaching! I already know how to make awesome origami!" he shouted excitedly and hopped into the corridor with half of the origami paper.

"Is there pastel pink?" Doumeki asked.

"No! We just use what we have!" Watanuki snapped.

The twins and Doumeki picked a color each, and watched quietly as Watanuki demonstrate once. Watanuki then taught them step by step with a new piece of paper, stopping at almost every step as the twins would either fold too much or too little of a portion. By the time they finished their first cranes, it was close to an hour later, and both cranes looked rather awkward in shape. Watanuki checked Doumeki's origami and found it perfect.

"That's too perfect for the first time. Are you sure you haven't done this before?" Watanuki asked suspiciously.

"I've done origami for ceremonies before, but I never did it for leisure."

"How complicated can it get?!" Watanuki argued. "Well, since you can do it perfectly, you better make most of them with the papers!"

Doumeki quickly made most of the origami cranes while the twins slowly made their third origami cranes. They worked on it with their full attention so much so that Watanuki couldn't bear to unfold their awkward paper art to redo it again. "Mokona, how are you doing with the origami?" Watanuki asked when they had used up all of the paper. The corridor was silent.

"Mokona?"

Then there was shuffling. _Sa sa_,_ sa sa_. The sound of paper scrapping along the ground. "Hur hur hur," Mokona's obnoxious laughter rang out from the corridor.

"THIS IS MY ULTIMATE MASTERPIECE!"

A small light blue Mokona peeked through the side of the shouji door.

"ORIGAMI MOKONA SIZE 1:1!" Mokona jumped out from behind its paper counterpart and shouted proudly.

The twins jumped in awe and scrambled to the origami Mokona. It was indeed as large as original Mokona and it was done so well that it stood on the corridor on its own.

"It's Mokona made of paper!"

"It's Paper Mokona!" Maru and Moro admired the origami excitedly.

"Hur hur hur, I'm awesome, aren't I?"

"Mokona is awesome!" the twins cheered, lifting Paper Mokona above their heads and danced around the living room.

Watanuki sighed and watched as the twins twirled happily in the room. "So you used most of the paper to make this," he said to Mokona who jumped proudly onto the table.

"I'm going to show this off to Soel when we meet!" Mokona said then warned the twins, signifying the beginning of a game of chase. "Be careful with that masterpiece!"

Among the noises of 'Paper Mokona' and Mokona's jumping steps, Watanuki collected the origami cranes on the table and counted them. "We'll make do with this amount, I guess," he said and then looked at Doumeki thoughtfully.

"Take out the thimble, " he said curtly.

"The ring?"

"It's not a ring! Come on, you bring it with you every day, don't you?" Watanuki said impatiently.

Doumeki took it out from his pocket and showed it to Watanuki in his palm.

"Wear it."

Doumeki tried on his ring finger. "It won't fit."

"Wear it like how you do when you use it! Did your grandfather teach you to do this to me?!" Watanuki snapped again.

Doumeki took the thimble out of his pocket and wore it on the index finger of his left hand. A bow materialized in his hand immediately as it fitted in.

"Now, imagine you're drawing the bow without an arrow. "

Doumeki did so. The bow string materialized as he pulled it.

"Don't let go," Watanuki instructed. He moved to Doumeki's side and caressed the body of a bow gently. His eyes followed his hand closely along the back of the bow and stopped at the upper limb. Then as though he was looking for the hole in a sewing needle, his eyes narrowed with his finger resting on the bow nock. After a momentary silence, the string detached silently. Watanuki did the same to the lower limb of the bow and the string was removed from the bow.

"What do I do with this?" Doumeki asked.

Watanuki took the origami that he had made himself. "Slide the string through it," he said. "We're going to make a string of cranes."

Doumeki did so and strung the rest of the cranes that he had made together. He tied a knot and a string of seven origami cranes was completed.

"Draw your bow again," Watanuki said and they repeated the process, this time with the twins' cranes and Doumeki's last paper crane. Two strings of colorful origami cranes laid on the table. Watanuki admired them satisfactorily.

"These will make a good charm for the shop and the cafe."

* * *

A/N: Thank you for reviewing! It's very encouraging to know that someone is interested in the story. Your questions will be answered eventually as the story progress. Have a great day ahead!


	6. Chapter 6

Tsuyuri: 7th of May

* * *

Watanuki and Doumeki waited behind the cottage gate as the women sent some men away from the cafe. They were beaten up with bruises all over their faces littered with small bloody cuts at the corner of their mouths. One of the older looking men had a bloody nose.

They bowed apologetically to the woman as she reprimanded them in with a motherly tone, her words filled with profanities said in a way that somehow didn't sound offending. What caught Watanuki's attention though, was the confusing conversation that followed next.

"And bring that man back with you. He's been creeping around the cafe for a couple of days. He's with you guys, isn't he?" she said.

"I'm sorry. Who are you talking about?"

"That man over there," the woman said and pointed her finger diagonally across the shop. "That guy in the black suit, standing next to the lamp post. He's a nuisance."

The men looked behind them together then looked at each other in confusion. "Where is he? I don't see him. The six of us work together as a team. I don't see anyone else except us," one of the men said.

The women looked up again to check. "Well, he's gone now. How did he do that so fast?" she clicked her tongue unhappily. "I'm tired of handling you guys. Get out of here and don't come back. I promise not to tell your boss about this matter."

As the men walked away, Watanuki and Doumeki walked through the gate. The women saw them and blushed a little. "You came to visit! Come on in," she said and went into the cafe first. The cafe was in slight messed with misplaced chairs and untidy tables. The woman picked up the menus that had fallen onto the ground while Watanuki and Doumeki helped to set the chairs in the tables. The woman picked up a dirty baseball bat from the floor and tossed it over the counter carelessly.

"Thanks," she said and served them each with a glass of water.

Doumeki placed a pretty pink box tied with a pink lacy bow onto the table. "I baked some cake as a house warming gift," Watanuki said and pushed the box towards the woman. "I also made some origami cranes."

"Thank you. The cranes are beautiful," she said and unwrapped the box. "I bought some aperitifs to go with the cake. Is there rum in the cake?"

"No," Watanuki said and stared at Doumeki accusingly. "I didn't add any rum into the cake."

"I see," the woman said, not noticing. "I guess it'd be good if we start by introducing ourselves."

"Yes, we should. I'm Watanuki."

"The first of April," Doumeki added on.

" Mfffff... BWAHAHAHA!" the woman laughed uncontrollably, her body shivering as she tried very hard to hold back.

"You're laughing way too much at that!" Watanuki protested.

"What's with that name? Is that some sort of alias?" the woman asked.

"What's your name?" Watanuki asked, determined to change the subject.

"I'm... I'm... Oh my, I'm so tempted to say the Tsuyuri... HAHAHAHA!" the woman continued. "Well, since you're using an alias, I assume so, because that's such a funny name..."

Watanuki sipped his glass of water unhappily.

"... My name is... ... Kaname. This is my alias," she said, giggling. She looked at Doumeki and asked, "And... Are you the second of April?"

"I'm Doumeki."

"That's a very serious name," Kaname said and stopped laughing immediately. She then looked at Watanuki with a smile and said, "Let's have the cake now. I'll get some glasses for the aperitif." She walked to the bar, laughing again.

It was a fairly large strawberry shortcake. Kaname cut ten pieces equally and served Watanuki and Doumeki each. She took a slice for herself and placed 2 more slices into a larger plate. She then closed the box with the remaining slices of cake and pushed the cake to Watanuki.

"This is too much for me. Please share it with the other people in the shop."

"... They'll love it. Thank you."

They ate their cake quietly in the bar. The cake was simply delicious. "Tell me about the shop. You said you sell wishes. That sounds very shady," Kaname said after she had finished her cake.

"It's as you've heard. I grant wishes."

"Any wish?"

"As long as you can pay the equivalent price for it."

Kaname hummed as she considered. "What's your most expensive charge ever? In thousands? Millions?"

"I don't charge money. It is simply payment essential to grant your wish. It could be anything."

"What kind of people visit your shop?"

"All kinds. As long as they have a wish to fulfill, they will come to the shop for it is hitsuzen."

"You said it was inevitable that I would come," Kaname said.

"Yes," Watanuki said and looked her directly. "You have a wish to fulfill."

"... What about Doumeki? Does he have a wish to fulfill?"

"He's just my runner," Watanuki said simply.

"Hmmm... Should I believe you?" Kaname asked, her finger circling the rim of her wine glass.

"It is up to you."

What followed was an awkward silence. Doumeki broke the silence by saying, "Why isn't there anyone else in the cafe? You had bad business on the first day?"

Watanuki shot a look at Doumeki.

"Oh... " Kaname blushed deeper. "That was a lie. I released fake information about the opening day. I wanted to make sure I had gotten rid of any possible hostility before the official opening. The cafe opens only tomorrow."

"Try putting up the origami cranes, maybe by the door. I hope it brings you good luck, for you and the cafe," Watanuki said, eagerly changing the subject.

"Right! I'll do it now," Kaname said and picked up the string of origami. She walked to the door and tip toed, and began to jump as she strained her arm as she tried to hook it. Doumeki walked over and took over the origami cranes from her, hanging at the corner of the door easily.

"Thanks!" Kaname breathed. "And for the fence as well."

Doumeki simply nodded in acknowledgement.

They walked out of the cafe and turned towards the shop. Watanuki took out the second string of origami and set it at the corner of the gate." I hope you don't mind me decorating the gate with this too..." Watanuki said and turned to see Kaname staring at the other side of the street.

"Hey, do you see that guy over there?" Kaname said, pointing in the same direction that she is looking at. "Do you see that tall man in the black suit and a white shirt with a big bowler hat?"

Watanuki and Doumeki stopped right in front of the entrance of the shop. There was no one in the street. Doumeki stepped out to take a look again. "No one's around," he said.

"... He's gone," Kaname said with a very worried look on her face. "Right as you stepped out. He just disappeared in a blink of the eye."

"Were you talking about him earlier just now?" Watanuki asked.

Kaname sighed and started with a renewed tone, "Oh well, its probably nothing. I'll find time to talk to him when I can." She gave a tired smile and said, "Thank you for coming over and the wonderful gifts."

"Kaname-san, please keep the origami cranes on the door and the gate at all times. They will keep you safe as long as they can, " Watanuki said. "Come into the shop if you need help."

"Yes, I will. I'll consult someone if it gets to me eventually."

* * *

A/N: Will be on hiatus for Nanowrimo!


	7. Chapter 7

Kaname didn't consider the cafe to be a big hit. The customers were actually buying enough to sustain the cafe and give her some decent profit. This was far better than what she had expected. She suspected that some of her father's business partners sent men down to check out the cafe, which generated part of her profits. Then one afternoon, one of the big bosses came to the cafe personally alone. She was the widow of a yakuza boss who held up the whole clan when her husband didn't manage to escape from a fatal gunfire ambush during a transaction.

"Where are your guards?" Kaname asked as she served up a cup of espresso.

"I'm supposed to be at a meeting with this Italian businessman right now, but I sort of decided it was too much trouble," the woman said with a loud hearty laugh. "I'm sure my secretary can handle it!"

"You better watch out who you leave the important work to," Kaname warned as she served up strawberry shortcake. "Especially since you're in this business."

"Is that a warning or are you just simply nagging at me?" the woman asked with a serious look on her face. The boss of a yakuza clan is asking for her advice. "Did something happen?" Kaname asked as casually as she could.

"You know... " The woman considered for a while. "Never mind."

A confidential, expensive and potentially fatal situation, thought Kaname, based on her the experience.

"It's kinda nice that you have a cafe out here. A good place to think through things quietly," the woman changed the subject smoothly.

"Yakuza thinks?" Kaname teased as she cleaned the counter top habitually.

"Come on, you know how it can be mentally tiring sometimes," the woman said. She tried to change the topic again. "I remember one of the younger men saying that you wanted a contemporary cafe. What ever happened to that idea?"

"Women's minds are fickle," Kaname shrugged her shoulders. There was no reason to talk about something that doesn't exist.

"What are you talking about? We all know you are stubborn to an almost annoying degree," the woman laughed again. "Is it that old building behind the cafe? It's just like you to -"

"What did you say?" Kaname asked.

"I was saying that it's just like you to try to accommodate everyone..."

"Not that! What did you see?"

"... That old building behind the cafe?"

It's the first time that Kaname had heard of anyone else talk about the shop. She simply stared at the woman as if she had suggested to close down her illegal business and surrender herself to the police.

"What?"

"...Nothing," Kaname said then wondered if she'd be sabotaging the shop's business if she didn't say anything. "Maybe you could check it out when you leave. I heard that it's a shop but I've never visited it at all."

Kaname didn't know if the woman had listened to her advice in the end. A few more customers visited and by the time she had finished serving them, it was late evening. The street becomes dead quiet every night without even any signs of pests or stray cats or dogs. The cafe never had customers in the night and she would wait until her Butler comes over to pick her up.

Kaname decided to wait for her transport outside the cafe tonight for a change. She closed the cafe a little earlier then leaned against the wall of the cafe as she surfed the Internet on her smartphone. After a while she got bored and decided to take a video of her cafe on video. She took down the whole length and height of the cafe, including the cottage. The shop showed on the smartphone's preview screen in the background. She wondered if anyone could see the shop in the video.

As she was about to stop the recording, the video suddenly distorted with static and the phone rebooted. "What?! " Kaname said agitatedly, tapping the screen impatiently. Her brain worked quickly as she tried to troubleshoot:

Smartphones shouldn't do that.

The video was not saved and none of the apps were broken.

Camera app works fine.

Let's try the video recording again.

Then the static happened again and the phone rebooted. Kaname looked up angrily and jumped when she saw the tall man in the black suit standing at the entrance. He was right behind the entrance of the shop, his head arched in as if he was trying to peek into something beyond the cafe.

"Hey!" Kaname said angrily. She's in a bad mood and she simply wants to get rid of this nuisance. The tall man did not give her any notice. "Hey! You there!" she said loudly.

"Excuse me."

It wasn't the tall man talking. Kaname looked to the other end of the the street. There was a big fish tank that sat in a cart, with small fishes swimming in the tank in circles. But that wasn't important. There was a rabbit next to the cart. A rabbit standing on next to the cart. On its hind legs. Only two legs.

"May I enter the shop?"

And it spoke.

"Are you alright?"

No, she's not. Either she's imagining things or... She can't think of any other reason why she could be seeing this. The cottage gate creaked opened and Kaname turned to see Watanuki standing behind her.

"Please enter," Watanuki said to the rabbit.

The rabbit went behind the cart and pushed it through the entrance. Kaname stared as it grabbed the handle with its front paws and walked in casually with its hind paws. Like a human.

"Kiseru Rabbit comes over periodically to check on my kiseru. It needs maintenance every once in a while," Watanuki explained. "Please allow him entry whenever he comes. He can't come in without explicit permission."

Kaname just watched, dumbfounded, as Watanuki returned to the shop after the rabbit. Right at the next moment, the familiar black limousine pulled up in front of the entrance.

"Are we ready to leave, Mistress?" the Butler asked.

* * *

"Red, I assume?" Kiseru Rabbit asked as he opened the box of kiseru stem.

"Yes," Watanuki as he watched the rabbit replaced the stem profesionally.

Kiseru Rabbit laughed and said "It's been a long time since I've seen humans stare at me like that."

"She's a good lady," Watanuki said simply.

"Yes, she is. What's that small building in front of the entrance?"

"Her cafe."

"I didn't think there'd be a cafe in front of the shop."

"... Me neither. I didn't see her coming."

"Even someone as powerful as you? " Kiseru Rabbit said as he passed the kiseru back to Watanuki.

"You're flattering me," Watanuki said as he looked at the kiseru lovingly. "You are as good as ever. "

The rabbit simply smiled. "Thank you."

Watanuki took out a neatly wrapped bento and handed it to Kiseru Rabbit. "Your payment, as usual, if you don't mind."

"Nope. This will always the perfect payment. Well, I shall be leaving now. I have another residence to visit tonight, " Kiseru Rabbit said as he packed up his tools. "And as usual, don't overdo that dream thing that you've been doing."

Watanuki smiled helplessly. "I'll take a break once I've finished this current job."

Kiseru Rabbit grunted an acknowledgement as though he was skeptical about Watanuki's response.

"Good luck then. See you again."


	8. Chapter 8

Kaname fell asleep as Youtube droned with some horror game's let's play video on her laptop. She was rather sure she fell asleep during the video because her last thought was "I'm going to have a terrible nightmare tonight because of these videos." What she couldn't understand was how she had ended up in a traditional Japanese room alone with Watanuki, who was sleeping on a couch right now. She was in a simple room with a couch and a bed side table where a _kiseru_ sat smoking, on top of a _kiseru's_ ash tray. Watanuki was sleeping on the couch facing up, breathing slow but his eyes rolling underneath his eyelids actively. He wore the black kimono that she had seen on the first night she visited the shop. He was still wearing the spectacles. Kaname felt stupid as she stood watching the teenager sleep in front of her. She sniffed in the fragrant smell of tobacco from the _kiseru_and thought hard as to why she was in the room in the first place. Her mind felt heavy; somehow it doesn't feel important at all.

"Watanuki!"  
"Watanuki!"

Two children's voice called out from outside the room. They sounded terrified.

"Watanuki! There's someone in the shop."  
"Watanuki, there's someone scary in the shop!"

Kaname looked at Watanuki who was still sleeping through the noise. She shook him by the shoulders but couldn't find the voice to call him out.

"Watanuki! There's a man!"  
"Watanuki, there's a man in the shop!"

Kaname shook the sleeping teenager harder.

"Help! Watanuki, help!"  
"Watanuki, the scary man is-"

Strangled voices rang out as though something was choking the children. Kaname opened the _shouji_door quickly and found two children being dragged away into the darkness of the shop's garden. She raced towards them and grabbed their struggling bodies, but whatever that had caught them was so powerful that it dragged her along as well. She looked across the crying faces of the children and found something like a tentacle wrapped around their necks. She tugged hard, thinking it would be difficult to pry it loose, but realised that the tentacle tore like paper. She tore the other tentacle away from the other child and the three of them rolled back into the shop as they broke off from the tentacles.

The tentacles drew back rapidly with a swoosh, like how a ruler would and Kaname saw a face materialised mid air in the garden. No, it didn't materialise; it was simply because the man wore a black suit with a white shirt, standing in the darkness. The man didn't wear the bowler hat. He walked slowly back to the shop, swaying like a drunk. Kaname quickly gathered the children and watched as the man climb up the shop with difficulty. It was then she noticed tentacles swung at his back as if it was part of him and the light from the shop illuminated his face. It was a blank face without any features; no eyes, no nose, no ears and no mouth. He reached out his hands and it extended longer and longer, like another pair of tentacles.

Kaname picked up the children, surprised that they felt weightless, and ran quickly back into Watanuki's room. She slid the door close, set the children next to the sleeping teenager and watched the door closely.

"Watanuki!"  
"Watanuki!"  
The children cried as they tried to shake him awake. "Wake up, Watanuki!"

Thud! Thud thud! Thud thud thud!

Tentacles slammed on the _shouji_ door continuously. Just when Kaname thought that maybe the door would hold, one of the tentacles tore a slit through the shouji. Another tentacle found the slit and tore it bigger into a hole. More tentacles tried to tear it even bigger. Suddenly, she had an idea in mind. She'd leave the room and distract the man. But there's only one exit in this r-  
She turned to the right and found a door to the right of the room. Why haven't she noticed the door?! She looked at the children and Watanuki then saw the kiseru on the ash tray. She didn't know why, but found an urge to pick it up. She took it and left the room through the door to the right.

* * *

A/N: This turned chapter turned out to be longer than I expected so I decided to break it into two parts or so. Enjoy! :)


	9. Chapter 9

The kitchen was right beside Watanuki's room. She opened the kitchen door and sprinted into the corridor. The man had already stopped attacking the door and was looking at her as though expecting her to appear there. It bent down and then glided to her with a burst of speed. Kaname scrambled away from the man in the opposite direction, running towards the door at the end of the tight corridor. A tentacle caught her by the right ankle then another grabbed her shoulder. She could feel another tickling the back of her neck when she burst into the room and quickly closed the door shut, pressing hard at the lock button. She frantically tore the tentacles away then waited, catching her breathe alone in the darkness. Something tickled her ankle again. She looked down and vaguely see a tentacle reaching its way in from the door's seam.

Thud! Thud thud! Thud thud thud!

The man was banging on the door again. Kaname backed further into the room, thankful that it was a sturdy door this time. She tried to look as hard as she could in the darkness. The room felt small and cramped. She reached out and felt shelves with boxes and containers all around it. One of them glowed on contact, lighting up the shelf. It was a small silver trinket box engraved with a rooster on its lid. Kaname picked up the box and the glow lit up the room like a flashlight. The man was still banging on the door and pieces of the tentacles flailed as they tried to inch in through the door seams. Some were groping blindly at the hinges as if trying to dismantle it. Kaname turned around with the trinket box, illuminating the room. It was a storeroom full of random objects. She could see books, scrolls, keys, jewellery, lots of boxes of different sizes in the shelves and umbrellas, canes and swords at the bottom of the shelves. She bent down to pick up something as a weapon when she realised the room had become quieter. The man had stopped banging on the door.

There was a soft fluttering sound of paper. It sounded so near, behind her. She looked up the shelf cautiously, watching as her shadow stretched against the shelf. From the corner of her eye, she saw a tentacle flutter past her and landed lightly onto the shelf above her. She stood frigidly watching, as a few more tentacles flutter past her onto the shelves. They slowly folded, gripping onto the shelves and pulled. More than a dozen tentacles on each of her side pulled the shelf, tilting it towards her. Kaname turned around and found the rest of the room covered with black tentacles, like a wall of paper. She tore as much as she could but there're always more paper behind every wall she had torn down again and again. A scroll fell from the the shelf and hit her head. She turned and saw more scrolls and boxes sliding out of the shelf gradually. There was a large crumpled noise and a strong force pushed her so hard that she fell onto the tilting shelf, then bounced back and fell on her behind, dropping the box and the _kiseru_. The wall of tentacles swallowed the items and darkness consumed the room as the trinket box disappeared. Kaname felt panic rising in her so quickly that she wanted to scream in fear. Tentacles started to flutter towards her ankles and arms, as though it knew it has its prey in its own hands.

There was a momentary silence as the tentacles stopped moving. Then the wall of tentacles started writhing and twisting. All of a sudden, the tentacles pulled away towards the door and through the seams, yanking Kaname's ankle and pulling her along until she crashed into the door. Glass broke behind her as boxes and ornaments dropped from the shelf as it fell onto the floor. She took a breath of relief as she stared at the fallen shelf. The trinket box was at the corner of the shelf, illuminating the room with its tiny glow. It was opened, probably from the impact of the chaos and within the case, there was something powdery and black. Kaname reached out for the box when the door opened quickly sucking in the air with its motion. The tentacle yanked her ankle so hard that she fell onto her back hard, giving her an electrifying pain down her back. The man bent over her with dozens of tentacles stabbing through the slits of the wooden floor, building a cage around her. White sparrows were flying around the man but he didn't take notice as the other tentacles swatted at the sparrows like pests. He lowered his blank face closer and closer to Kaname. Unable to resist the fear, she screamed as loud as she could as threw her fists, punching the man in the face. He took the punches silently as though it didn't hurt and simply turned his head back to her again. Kaname groped around desperately, took the trinket box and pressed it against his blank face quickly. It didn't seem that it made a difference for a while until when the tentacles pulled out of the floorboards violently and the man stood up quickly, clutching his face as he stumbled out of the store room. The trinket box fell onto the floor with an empty clang. The black powder was on the blank face, squirming into a shape. The man flailed in agony silently, backing further away from the room all the way into the corridor. Kaname followed cautiously, crawling behind the man towards the garden. More sparrows flew in from the garden, pecking the man and tearing apart the tentacles.

"Kaname san!" Watanuki stood in the living room. "Quick," he said urgently. "Pass me my _kiseru_!"

Kaname scrambled to him and held out the pipe. He snatched and quickly took a smoke from it, as if he had been deprived from the weed for a long time. Kaname simply mouthed a large 'WHAT?' at him. How could he even have the luxury to smoke at this moment?!

Watanuki took a deep smoke and breathed out. The smoke danced in the air lightly then slowly transformed into the same white sparrows she had seen, and flew out into the garden towards the tall man. Most of them started pecking him angrily but some of them flew past him, and disappeared into the darkness beyond the cottage gate. The tall man shook violently as he struggled to throw the sparrows off him. He began to grow tentacles again and this time, they skillfully dodged the sparrows' attacks and counter attacked them. The sparrows chirped frantically as they were thrown off and beaten, and began to flew apart from their formation which made it even easier for the tentacles to attack each one of them. More tentacles grew and soon, outnumbered the sparrows attacking him. The sparrows' chirping became gradually softer and softer as every one of them slowly disintegrated into smoke. Even Watanuki backed further into the house slowly. Kaname watched as he scanned the area, squinting as he looked everywhere for something. Suddenly, he said loudly, "There! In the direction of the gate!" Kaname didn't know what he meant, but a second later, the tall man stumbled back and a tentacle disintegrated from some kind of invisible impact.

"Nearly," Watanuki continued. "A little to the left."

Something was definitely going on, thought Kaname, though she couldn't see it. She inched forward, trying to figure out what was attacking the tall man on Watanuki's command. A few seconds later, the tentacles suddenly swung together in one big movement, as if swatting something away. Then she heard the crisp sound of something wooden snapping.

"Keep it there. I'll distract it," Watanuki said and took a smoke from the kiseru.

He breathed out and like before, white sparrows materialised and flew quickly to the tall man. The tentacles swatted at the sparrows effortlessly and a few others glided towards Watanuki at an incredible speed. Just before the tentacles reach the edge of the house, two cranes landed with a great swoosh, tearing the tentacles apart. They flapped their wings with a stabbing posture threateningly. The tall man stumbled back again, as if something had hit him. Kaname squinted and saw an arrow stuck on the side of his head. There was no wound and no blood, and the tall man stepped forward again as if nothing had happened. The tentacles soared and stabbed downwards at the cranes. The cranes fought back valiantly but still lost to the growing number of tentacles attacking them.

"I'm not sure why it's not working, but this is not good," Watanuki said loudly. It seemed to Kaname that he's holding a conversation with someone; a person who must have been attacking the tall man.

The cranes gave a final squawk and disintegrated into bits of origami paper. The tall man is winning and he stepped forward, throwing the tentacles like lances at Watanuki. Then a crazy idea came into Kaname's mind. She ran out into the corridor, grabbed a handful of tentacles and then started tugging at them hard. The tentacles halted in mid air, confused then suddenly, tugged in the opposite direction, struggling out of Kaname's grip.

"What are you doing?!" Watanuki shouted from behind.

**I've had enough!**

Kaname wanted to tell the teenager but still couldn't find her voice to say it. Instead, she tugged harder, determined to break whatever she's holding. With a grunt, she leaned back and pulled with rage, dragging the tall man closer and closer to the shop. She heard some mumbling from Watanuki but didn't hear what he said as she concentrated as pulling the tall man, twisting the tentacles so many times that she hoped that it hurt badly for him. She nearly stumbled forwards as the tall man tugged just as hard as she was; she was losing energy for this. Then she heard a swoosh by the side of her ear, so loud that it sounded as if something had flew past her. It hit the tall man bull's eye and sent him flying away from the shop and into the garden. The momentum took Kaname along and she flew out of the shop, crashed into the garden, rolled a few feet before landing face down in the grass. She could feel her arms and legs sprawled awkwardly as she landed, and wished hard that she didn't break anything just as she blacked out and lost consciousness.

* * *

A/N: Makes me happy to know that people like reading this! Thank you for your reviews! It motivates me even more! I forgot to upload this part of the story before I left for Japan for a couple of weeks. Happy New Year!


	10. Chapter 10

Watanuki woke up with a start. Something felt amiss. He reached for the most comforting item he has, the _kiseru_, but it was not there.

Ah, so that's what he felt.

The sliding door opened suddenly and Doumeki stood at the entrance. He had the same poker face as usual, but Watanuki could tell that something is going on from the man's body language.

"I hear footsteps," Doumeki said. "Around your room."

"My _kiseru's_ missing," Watanuki said, annoyed. He pushed away Doumeki and walked into the living room, opening its sliding room with more force than needed. Doumeki followed him silently and they both listened.

Thud! Thud thud! Thud thud thud!

Watanuki peeked out of the living room cautiously and looked towards the direction of the storeroom. He was about to step out when a loud crash rang from the storeroom and Doumeki held him back by his arm tightly. Watanuki backed into the room slowly, and shook his arm, gently easing Doumeki to loosen his grip.

Something dashed out into the corridor suddenly. It was a tall man writhing about in the corridor, his hands covering his face as if he was burning in pain. There were tentacles growing from the man's back, flailing around painfully. White sparrows were attacking the tall man, swooping down and pecking the tentacles angrily.

White sparrows – his signature – were flying around the garden, attacking the man.

"What's going on?" Doumeki asked. "Why did you summon them?"

Watanuki didn't know what to say. He didn't summon anything at all. He heard an awkward stumble and looked out towards the storeroom again. Kaname was on the floor, crawling slowly behind the man. She looked sweaty and messy with her long black hair tangled around her shoulders. Most importantly, he found the _kiseru_ in her hands.

"Kaname san!" he said urgently. "Quick! Pass me my _kiseru_!"

The woman scrambled to him so agonizingly slow that he snatched the _kiseru_ from her, in an unintended way, and quickly took a smoke from it. He felt the familiar sensation as the powers within him worked through his body and he breathed out the smoke along with his magic. He sent out more sparrows into the battle with the man with the tentacles and a few others flew over the garden to the café. It will take a while, but he'll need all the help he could get.

The man was fighting back, his tentacles adapting to the increased number of sparrows that Watanuki had sent out. He backed into the house slowly as the sparrows disintegrated into smoke one by one. He looked around for Doumeki, to tell the man to take out his thimble and equip it. But Doumeki was already armed and was waiting for instructions in the corner of the living room.

"There! In the direction of the gate!"

Doumeki shot quickly, aiming near the sparrows, and with the same precision as his grandfather had, the arrow shot through the living room and into the garden, hitting one of the tentacles. It was a good shot for someone who couldn't see what he's trying to hit.

"Did I get it?" Doumeki said, not letting down his guard as he prepared for another shot.

"Nearly," Watanuki replied. "A little to the left."

Doumeki drew his arrow again and took aim, slower than before as there were only a couple of sparrows left flying weakly as they slowly disintegrate into smoke. He shot and immediately heard the familiar crisp sound of his arrow snapping. Whatever he was trying to shoot had retaliated. He looked at Watanuki for further instructions.

"Keep it there," Watanuki said, bringing up the _kiseru_ for a smoke. "I'll distract it."

More white sparrows materialised from the smoke that he breathed out. Whatever that was attacking them was learning to fight back very quickly. The sparrows flew in weird patterns as if trying to dodge. Most of the sparrows disintegrated after a few dodges and Doumeki felt an immense pressure as something approached the shop. He drew back quickly and was about to shoot when two cranes landed with a great swoosh. Their claws gripped at something, digging and pulling whatever they had caught. Doumeki took it as a cue and released another shot into the garden. The cranes began to struggle and squawk, as though they were losing the battle.

"Is it not working, Watanuki?" Doumeki asked, beginning to feel more anxious.

"I'm not sure why it's not working, but this is not good," Watanuki said loudly. He didn't understand why Doumeki's spiritual power didn't exorcise the tall man. Why was Kaname in the shop in the first place? Why can't he tell what kind of spirit is he dealing with? The cranes gave a final squawk and disintegrated into bits of origami paper. Watanuki was jolted out of his train of thoughts as Doumeki pulled him behind roughly.

"What are you doing?!" Watanuki shouted from behind, but Doumeki ignored him. He stood in front of Watanuki and drew his bow. Something was coming quickly building up immense pressure in the atmosphere. Hopefully, the nearer it is, the arrow can deal a stronger strike at it. Right in front of him, Kaname struggled with the tentacles in her arms. She wrung the tentacles as she twisted and tugged them hard. Doumeki was ready to release the shot, unaware that Kaname is directly in the arrow's trajectory.

"Doumeki! Be careful! Kaname san is right there, at the corridor!" Watanuki warned.

Just as Kaname stumbled forward, Doumeki shot and the arrow flew past the side of her head and straight into the man's blank face. The impact was so great that it sent the man flying away from the shop and into the garden. Watanuki quickly rushed into the garden as Kaname crashed onto the ground together with the man. She slid along the grass for a short distance before she stopped and disappeared suddenly into the darkness.

* * *

Watanuki woke up with a start. He was in his bedroom. Maru and Moro were sleeping soundly on either side of him. The kiseru sat on the ash tray at the side table next to his bed. The door opened quietly and Doumeki's head poked in. "I had a dream," he said simply.

"It was a nightmare," Watanuki said, realization settling in as he found answers. Answers to why Kaname was in the shop, why Doumeki wasn't able to exorcise anything and why he couldn't do what he usually could. It was because they were in someone else's dream. Someone who doesn't know them well.

"It was Kaname san's nightmare."

* * *

A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter as well! :)


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